Gravity-carrier.



No. 890,917. PATENTBD JUNE. 19, 1909.

- R. P. MATHBWS 9 0. H. 1.19190.

GRAVITY CARRIER.

APPLICATION P11131) Nov. 0, 1905. RENBWBD 111111.01900.

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MWA/5555. Ma/m@ Q 991 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

noires' P. MATIIEWS AND CHARLES II'. LISTER, or ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, AssIGNoRs To iIATiiEws GRAVITY CARRIER oOnPANnoE sT. PAUL, MINNESOTA, A CORPORATION OF M INNEsOrA.

GRAVITY-CARRIER.

.Patented June 16,1908.

Application filed November 6, 1905, Serial No. 285,968. Renewed March 6, 1908. Serial No. 419,571.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, RUFUS P. MATHEWs and CHARLES I-I. LIsTEIi, both of St. Paul, Ramsey county, Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gravity-Carriers, of which the following is a specification. A l

' Our invention relates to carriers designed articularly for transporting brick and simiar articles of comparatively small dimensions by gravity.

To make a gravity carrier lsuccessful and valuable in a commercial sense, it is essential th at it be made operable on a very low grade,

'and to accom lish this it is necessary to eliminate as muc friction as possible, particularly at the sides of the carrier.

The object, therefore, of our invention is to provide a -gravity carrier having antifriction ca gwheels or rollers which will rapidly and smoothly transport the packages, even though the carrier is arranged on a very slight inclinationor drop; y

A further object is to provide a carrier wherein practically all friction, especially at the sides, is eliminated, the packages following the line of least resistance and traveling in the direction of rotation of the wheels, thereby permitting the side rails or guards to be dispensed with, and eliminating the friction incident tok their use.

The invention consists generally in a carrier having side rails an'dintermediate 'antifriction rollers 'provided with means forv retaining the brick or other articles thereon.

Further, the invention consists in a carrier .having rollers provided with flanges or rims .at the ends, whereon packages of greaterwidth than the length of the rollers may be placed and transported.

Further, the invention consists in -various constructions and combinations, all as hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawingsforining part of this s eci'fication, Figure 1 is a plan view of a bric carrier embodying. Ourfinv'en-l tion. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view, one end of a roller being broken away to illustrate the bearing for the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a portion of a carrier and the bricks thereon.

In the drawing, 2 represents theside rails,

of any suitable length and thickness, and 3' rods connecting the said rails at intervals,

and provided with lock nuts 4. 5 is a section of steel tubing having ways Or races 6 itting snugly in its openfends for the balls 7,

the edges of said races being extended later- .bricks in place thereon as they pass over the rollers, and also serve as wheels for carrying boxes or packages of greater length than the Width ofL the carrier. The cone 9 is ro'- vided on the rod 3 at each end of the ro ler, and 'between the end of this cone andthe bottom of the race, the balls are held, adjust'- inent of the cones with respect to the balls being determined by means of` the rod 3 and. the lock nuts thereon. These rollers are airanged sufficiently near together to allow brick and other small articles to be placed thereon and transported. A sufiicientdrop will be provided in the carrier to cause the brick to move down over therollers by gravity Without any attention on the part of the operator, except to place the brick on the carrier at one end and remove them on the other. The carrier sections are made of any suitable length and coupled together at their ends, and a curved section 10 may be provided wherein the rollers are mounted in the same manner as described with reference to the one lshown in Fig. 2, except that the ends of the rollers supported by the inner rail of the curved section are nearcrtogether than the ends supported by the outer rail, as shown in Fig. 1, and the outer ends of these rollers may necessary to deliver the brick or other mate` rial at the desired point. v

When it is desired to transport articles of greater length than the width of the carrier,

the iian esl or rims S will act as carrying Wheels t erefor, and the articles will slide thereover with a very slight drop in the vcarrier from its4 receiving to -its discharge end. It will,be noted in this application that the friction between the carryingrollers or wheels and their bearings is ractically eliminated, and we are therefore alble to Operate our carrier successfully on a lower grade than has heretofore been thought possible with an apparatus of this kind, and this feature alone esA has very materially increased the salability and commercial value of the carrier. Furthermore, by eliminating the friction in such lballs fitting. therein, cones mounted on said rods and having bearing surfaces, and between whieh surfaces andl said lWays saidballs are arranged. l 2. A gravity carrler comprismg side ralls and means connecting them-at intervals, and

rollers having anti-friction bearings at their ends upon said conne'nting means and forming a way over which comparatively small articles suchl as .brick may be" transported, said rollers being' of substantially uniform diameter between their ends and extending above the tops of said 1ails,'s'1.1bstantially as described. Y

`3. A-gravity carrier comprising side rails and rods connecting them and rollers composed of tubing having antifricti'on bearings at their ends on said rods, said rollers having narrow annular rims or flanges formed thereon at their ends and projecting above the tops of said rails and forming carrying surfaces for ackages of greater Width than the len th ofp scri ed, 1

4. A gravity carrier comprising side rails, rods connecting said rails at intervals, cones mounted on said rods, and rollers havin vball bearings at their ends on said cones and `orming an antifriction Way or surface for trans porting articles by gravity, substantially as described.

5. A gravity carrier comprising side rails and rods connecting themand rollers composed of steel tubing arranged between said rails and having antifriction bearings on said rods, saidl rollers being sufficiently near to said rollers, substantially as de-y gether to allow small articles, such as bricl,

to be-transported tliereover by gravity, sub- Stantially as described.

6. A gravity carrier comprising rails and rods connecting them and rollers composed ef metal tubes journaled on said rods be twei said 'rails and projecting above the same and forming a gravity carrier surface and bein sufficiently near together to prevent sma l4 articles, such as brick,from dropping down'- between them substantially as described.

7. A gravitycarrier comprising side rails and means cbnnecting them at intervals and rollers having anti-friction. bearings at their ends ipon said lconnecting means and forming a Way over which comparativelyv small articles such as brick may be transported, and said rollers being of substantially uniform diameter lbetween their ends, substan- ,tially as' described.

8. A gravity carrier comprising side rails and means connectingthem at intervals and` f .roliirs having antifrietion Vbearings at their ends upon said connecting means vand forming away over which comparatively, small articles such as brick may be transported.-

9. A gravity carrier-.comprismg'side rails and rollers composed of metal tubing journaled between said rails7 said rollers bein of substantially uniform ldiameter from ein? to end and formin a'gravity carrier surface and bein sufiicieny near together to'prevent sma articlessuch as brick from dropping y,down between them.

10., A gravity 4carrier comprising side rails I and rollers composed of metallicitubing journaled between said rails, vsaid rollers having annular flanges at their ends and bein sufficiently neartogether to prevent sma artil cles suchv as brick from dropping `down between them, and said rollers forming collectively ,a gravity carrier surface.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands this 26th day of October 1905.

RUFUS P. MATHEWS. CHARLES H.LISTER Witnesses: .l I'

RICHARD-PAUL, C. MAoNAMana. 

